


Love Starved

by KyrstenScribbles



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Anorexia, Bulimia, Eating Disorders, Hurt/Comfort, Possible david adopts max au, Suicide mention, tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 19:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11539002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyrstenScribbles/pseuds/KyrstenScribbles
Summary: Max kept his tendency to keep his stomach empty a secret.He feels as though his eating disorder keeps him in control and gives him a cause.But will it also be a cause of his death?





	Love Starved

Max stared down at his pudding cup like it was the single most disgusting he had ever set eyes upon. Clenching and unclenching his plastic spoon in his fist, he made no effort towards opening the top, settling for grabbing the container and shaking it, watching the chocolate contents slide around from within the transparent prison.

How long had it been since the young boy had tasted sweets? He couldn't remember. Always finding an excuse. A reason to keep his distance from the candies all the other kids frequently sought out. The same sweets he wanted desperately.

Max's stomach growled and he felt his body urging him to open the packet. Its only one pudding cup. He'd only take one bite. It'd be fine. Breathing deeply, he grabbed the plastic cup and begin to open it as his fingers trembled.

He didn't open it.

Next thing he knew the pudding was flying across the room, landing neatly at Nurf's table. Max didn't drop his arm from its throwing position for a few moments. He sighed and finally took his seat once again, watching the older bully rejoicing over his extra dessert. 

The dark haired boy barely noticed Nikki babbling right beside him. He rubbed his temples and tried to focus on the words rolling off her tongue. Something about adventure camp.  
Adventure camp...  
Oh! Today was Nikki's camp day, Max remembered, sitting up. He wondered what the red headed bane of his existence had in store for this one. 

"Good morning campers!" A high, loud voice rang through the air and pierced Max's eardrums.

Speak of the devil.

\---  
A hike. It was a hike. They were going on a stupid fucking hike. Max cursed David for coming up with such a basic but difficult activity. He cursed Nikki for signing up for stupid adventure camp. He cursed himself and his fragile body. He cursed himself again for not being dead yet.

Angrily shoving a second water bottle in his backpack, Max threw away his bag of trail mix David had given out to all the campers and cursed the entirety of his person level of Hell known as Camp Campbell. Running to meet the rest of the group at Mount Fucking Whatever, he could already feel the uncomfortable heat that his body would be forced to bask in for the next four hours of his miserable life.

Of course, taking off his hoodie was always an option. An option that made the child's heart stop and blood run cold just thinking of it. Sure taking it off was always an option, but wasn't suicide always an option, dream  
Max swore up and down that he'd rather be attacked by bears than expose his body to anyone. Especially anyone at Cameron Campbell's shitshow.

\---

Max was almost sure he had heard David tell the same joke about pine trees at least four times. Maybe it was a different joke. Maybe he wasn't telling jokes at all. Max could hardly hear him from his place, trudging slowly behind the rest of the group. It wasn't like he cared. Being so far away from the counselor was a dream.

The angry child tore a bottle of water out for the fifth time, downing almost all of it at once. It was his last bottle. He scowled and looked ahead at all the other campers. How could they be having so much fun? Sure enough, each of them had a smile plastered on their faces. Nikki's especially shined bright as she laughed heartily from atop David's shoulders. Were they not experiencing the headache he had? The cold sweat? The loud heart? It wasn't fair.

Max threw the empty bottle at her.

It landed not even four feet ahead of him and the toss itself left him breathless. Max doubled over, gripping his hands onto his knees and panting. He shut his eyes and tried to stop the world from spinning.  
Fuckin pathetic, he told himself.

He tried to stop the heat in his stomach, taking deep, full breaths. It felt like oxygen was just leaving his body. He couldn't breath. He wanted to panic, but his body was too overexerted to do anything but tremble. He was aware of his knees locking and aware of his fall to the floor.  
He was aware that he couldn't scream as his vision went dark.

He wasn't aware that it took 10 minutes for anyone to even notice he had passed out.

He wasn't aware of the panicked hands carrying him back to camp.

He was only aware of a dream full of memories.

\---

Max's parents had a family dinner to go to. A sort of reunion. They couldn't decide whether or not to bring the boy with them. The curly haired child pouted. He was a part of the family, wasn't he? It was unfair for them to even consider leaving him out.

An hour and a lecture on behaving later, Max was all dressed up and almost ready to go. After fighting with his hair for 15 minutes, his mother abandoned the gel and gave Max a cigarette burn on his calf out of frustration. Max had whimpered, but said nothing, hoping he could still go to the dinner. It was allowed.

He bounced slightly during the car ride there, careful not to irritate his new burn that shone among the other dull scars. He could hardly contain his smile, the boy was so excited to finally see his cousin Alex once again. It was nice to have someone his age to play with. Being an only child who was home schooled, he rarely got that opportunity.

As soon as Max arrived, he sought out the older boy, and he and Alex played together happily whilst the parents ate and chatted. Max smiled wide as he crashed his toy train against his kin's, both of them laughing happily together. Max felt true joy bubbling in his chest for the first time in a while, and he hoped the day would never end and the feeling would never subside.

Everything seemed perfect.

Until he heard his name from the other room.

Curiosity getting the better of him, the child walked over to the open door and peeked inside. His parents sat across from the table his aunt and uncle, their faces masked with disappointment. It was a look Max had witnessed many times before. He wondered to himself what could have brought on this upsetting look as his mother opened her mouth.

Little Alex is just so handsome and well kempt," she began,   
"I wish Max would take some pointers from such a perfect child as your own."

"Exactly." His father interjected. "Max has been nothing but trouble. He's unsatisfied and unhappy and greedy." 

"Oh we can tell," Max's aunt giggled, "He certainly has put on weight since the last time he was here."

"We might just have to put him on a leash and walk him ourselves." His mother smiled.  
"What a nuisance."

All the adults burst into a fit of laughter and Max cast his eyes to the floor, feeling a wetness slide down his cheek. He clenched his fists. He hated his parents. He hated his aunt. He hated his uncle. He hated perfect little Alex. He hated grown ups.

In the next few months, his parents seemed to care less. Their comment weighted heavy on the child's heart. Maybe he was fat. Maybe he was disgusting. Maybe he was useless. Maybe though, maybe he could fix it.

That night Max skipped dinner, his parent's comment loud in his mind.

And the next night.

And the next night.

The boy soon found himself seeking the churn and growl of his stomach. He found the rumbling intoxicating and addictive. He felt in control. Every time his body begged for food and he refused it, Max found himself getting a power high. Skipping meals was an achievement, and his clothes becoming baggier and loose was a reward.

His parents were aware.

They noticed him leaving his untouched dinner on the table.  
They saw him throwing away full lunches.  
They ignored the sobbing vomiting at 5am  
They turned a blind eye to their son's sunken eyes and bony chest.

Max was disappointed with their lack of acknowledgment. He swore to himself that if he became a size smaller they would look at him. If he lost 10 more pounds they would notice him. If his ribs poked out he would earn their praise.

If he was skinny they would love him.

One size smaller turned to two sizes smaller.  
Two sizes turned to three.  
Three to four.

Still, he lost weight without praise. The only time he was spoken to was when his parents informed him of their summer plans, along with their plans to strand him at camp.

They assumed his body would deteriorate there. He would eventually starve himself to death.

They knew this.

And they would not be around him when it happened.

They would be blameless for their son's suicide.

\---

**Author's Note:**

> Yeet  
> I got to lazy to write the entire thing out so I'm gonna make it multi chapter even though I usually can't stand multi chapter fics.  
> So expect another one or two chapters.
> 
> Tumblr: kyrstensucks


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